Just Like The Movies
by Miss.Elliot
Summary: Zombie!Klaine. Blaine Anderson sets off to find safety when he suspects his favourite film genre has become frighteningly real. "If life were a horror film I would be the first to die."
1. Chapter 1

**_Here I go again._**

**_This is my NaNoWriMo novel from this year Klainified (no, I did not win *sigh*). As such it is very AU, set in Australia and probably wildly out of character. However I have always wanted to write zombie!Klaine and so I had a compulsive need to post this. Most of it is already written, I just have some editing to do. So (hopefully) updates will be quick. (I say this but knowing me they will eventually slow down)._**

**_Hope you enjoy, because it is kind of my baby. Good luck, let me know what you think. Love. _**

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><p><em>If life were a horror film I would be the first to die. It is something I have known for years now. That's not to say I have put a lot of thought into it, but haven't we all joked around with friends, who would be the hero and who would die first? There has never been a question; it would be me. I am the person who opens the door against all advice. I am the one who wanders off alone, only to be found minutes later by the rest of the group, my body the first indication that shit has just gotten real.<em>

_Fortunately for me life isn't a movie. And hopefully in the one hundred and twenty minutes of life I can survive past the opening credits._

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><p>The thing that probably tipped me off that something was wrong was my mother tried to eat me. It wasn't exactly in her normal, upper middle class behavior and was a cause for concern.<p>

I came downstairs for breakfast, still a little hazy from sleep at the everyday time of seven. Usually she is standing in the kitchen with a cup of tea in one hand and digging through a fruit salad with the other, looking over her planner, pretending to care about one cause or another. Today she was not standing behind the marble of our kitchen island; I didn't pay it much attention. Maybe she was having a shower, or maybe my younger brother was refusing to get up. That was most likely the case.

I fixed myself breakfast of toast and coffee and started to read the newspaper, same as I did yesterday, and the day before. I like routine in the mornings. I'm all for spontaneity, but not at seven in the morning.

I heard a shuffling sound in the doorway and looked up. Now I know people do not look their best in the mornings, but this was something else. Usually my mother is the most put together person I know and even in the morning she looks better than most people do during anytime of the day. But this morning her hair was bedhead on steroids, it looked as though she had spent a considerable amount of time in a wind tunnel. Her skin was greyish, except for under her eyes where large purple circles had formed. She had sores all over her arms and neck, some of them open and weeping. The thing that sticks out in my mind was her eyes. They looked blank, unseeing, none of the usual sparkle of life. Yet there was no doubt about it, those eyes were trained on me.

She continued to walk into the room. Her body was seemed stiffer than usual, but she had little difficulty moving about. It was a strange combination, the stiff shuffle that seemed to allow her to move about with ease. Now at this point my brain was blank. I knew something was wrong, but other than that, nothing. There is something to be said for basic instinct. I don't know why but I stood up out of my chair and started to circle around the table. We were moving like that, slowly, a scene from some sort of bad western when she lunged.

If the eyes hadn't been an indicator, her jumping across the kitchen table, black teeth bared and aimed at my jugular was. And it was a fucking huge one. My mother could not move that fast. She also didn't try to rip out my throat.

Her fingers were fisting in the front of my shirt when I pulled away and legged it out of there. What the fuck was going on? Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew exactly what was happening, but I refused to believe it. How could I? It was absolutely ridiculous.

I was standing in the hall of our house, trying to plan my next move. I needed a weapon. If this were a movie there would be a baseball bat, or shotgun nearby. Unfortunately this was not a movie, and I did not live in America, I lived in suburban Sydney. As such the baseball bats and guns were limited. To none.

I was still telling myself that I did not live in America and would have to come up with something on my own when the shuffling came back. Apparently my mother was still after my blood.

I realize that I sound cold when telling this. But I have to let you know the creature that was hunting me in my own home was not my mother. I gave up on my family a long time ago. I miss them and I have mourned for them. Remember when I tell this story, they are not characters, the creatures are.

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, this is a good bit. So my mother, well, the creature, was stalking the hallways at an alarming pace. I needed a weapon, and I needed it quickly. I spun around in circle at least three times before I spotted it, my brother's cricket bat. I had never been much into the sport, finding it a bit slow for my liking, but I grabbed the willow bat nonetheless. How quintessentially Australian; the perfect replacement for the Hollywood stereotype.

I raised the bat above my head. I had forgotten how heavy those things were, but my adrenaline was pumping and I had plenty strength. I'm small, but I'm a lot stronger than I look, I've had to be. I waited until the thing was in range, stepped over the crease and brought the bat down.

I cannot describe for you the sound of a cricket bat hitting a human's (well, previously human) head. The combination of hard and soft is ineffable. Try it sometime and find out.

I had bought myself some time. Something told me The Thing (I was now capitalizing in my head) wasn't dead. A part of my mind (the part I was still refusing to acknowledge) told me the only thing that would do it would be a gunshot. I was worried that this was the same part of my mind that had seen too many movies.

I stepped over the body and thought about my next move. All I really wanted to do was go up to my room and go back to sleep. Maybe if I woke up in a few hours everything would be back to normal and my mum would be brewing tea and worrying about flower arrangements. However that pesky little rational part of my brain told me going upstairs was a bad idea. If I were to lock myself in my room there would be no escape. The Creatures would gather at my door until they forced it open. My only choice would be out the window and I'm afraid of heights so there is no way in hell that is happening.

My brain was working faster than I realized at this point. It felt like hours ago I had brained what used to be my mother, yet it could only have been seconds. I was working my way towards my next move when my brother came down the stairs, his hair sticking up at all angles and only wearing boxers.

He grunted at me and tried to push past to get to the kitchen.

'Ah, no.' I pushed him back into the hall.

'What?' My translations from teenage boy to English may be a little rusty, with the dapper private school education kicking in, but I think that is pretty accurate.

I didn't have a plan, but I knew we needed to get out of the house. The shell of my mother was trying to eat her children, it just wasn't safe anymore. And we needed information. Somehow I doubt The Morning Show would be the most accurate source.

'Put some clothes on and grab some extras. Go into my room and grab me some shorts and a couple of t-shirts. Oh, and some boxers.' I figured clean clothes was something we were going to need, although I wasn't exactly sure why.

'Yuck, I'm not touching your underwear.' He started up the stairs and I seriously contemplated throwing the cricket bat still in my hand at his head.

'Just fucking do it!' I yelled. Panic was slowly making its way into my system.

The next step in my plan was getaway. I looked at the two sets of keys sitting in the bowl on the small table in the entranceway. One set were mine, unlocking a beat up old hatchback that had once belonged to my grandparents. The check engine light was perpetually on and I was in serious doubt as to whether I had enough fuel to get me to a petrol station, let alone wherever else we had to go. My parents had given it to me to "teach me the value of money" when all it really did was teach me to push it to the side of the road and fix it enough to get me home. The other choice was my fathers pride and joy. He was out of the country on business. Well that's what he told us. In all probability he was fucking his secretary in the next state over, but lets not dwell on details. The SUV was polished to within an inch of its life and full of premium fuel. I think my choice was clear. Really, what would you have done? I picked up the keys.

'Hurry up, dude.' I screamed up the stairs. I was getting antsy. I wanted to get on the road. Driving had always calmed me down. I could drive in circles for hours as long as I had enough fuel and a good playlist on my iPod.

'And bring my iPod.'

'Alright, alright.' He had finally put on a shirt and had an old sports bag slung over his shoulder. 'What are we rushing for anyway? You takin' me on an impromptu holiday or somethin'?' He scratched his neck as his eyes scanned the hall, resting on the prone form of our mother for the first time. His mouth dropped and I grabbed his arm to drag him out of the house.

'I'll explain in the car.'

'Blaine, what the fuck is going on.' He was starting to catch onto the panic.

'Seriously just get in the car.'

We scrambled in, a sudden rush to our movements. He threw the bag with our clothes in the back seat as I started the ignition. I reversed out of the driveway too quickly. I rammed the car into first and revved it too high. I finally got into a rhythm and couldn't help but feel like something final had happened. That maybe, just maybe, we would never see that house again.

'Okay, bro. Start talking.' My brother wasn't the kind of person to show emotion. He preferred to grunt and lock himself in his room with loud music. Out of all the things I had experienced that strange morning this sudden look of terror scarred me the most. It was real.

I took a deep breath and fought back tears. I'm not a brave person. The way I tell this story it sounds like I have a cool head, like I've got it all together. This is so far from the truth, I was a mess.

'Okay. Okay. So you know how I watch too many Zombie movies?' I gave him the side eye, expecting a remark about my lack of social life. No comment.

'And you know how at the beginning the protagonist always gets attacked by their loved one? And from then on they are fighting Zombies like nobodies business?'

He nodded. I think he was just as afraid of the words as I was.

'Mum just attacked me. She looked like she had just stepped out of a Halloween costume party. I smacked her on the head with a cricket bat hard enough to kill three people and I think she was barely unconscious.'

I wasn't so much talking to my brother at this point as myself. I was working the puzzle out aloud, fitting the pieces together. All those feelings nagging at the back of my brain were becoming coherent thoughts. And I did not like it.

'So what you're saying is this is a zombie movie?'

'No. This is real life. I am not a hero. We do not live in America. There is no such thing as zombies.' I ran my fingers through my hair, messing it a little, something I always did when I was stressed.

'Then what?'

'I have no fucking clue.'

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><p>I think this is about the point I introduce myself properly. If you are going to read my story you may as well know who I am. No, I am not some crazy sci-fi nerd who has seen so many zombie movies he is confusing fiction and real life. Well the sci-fi nerd bit might be a little true. Same with the zombie movie bit. But I will have you know, this is definitely real life.<p>

My name is Blaine Anderson and I happen to think Sixteen Candles was the worst film ever made. No my parents are not huge John Hughes fans, its an old family name. Shut up.

So I have already told you I am a nerd who watches zombie movies and you have probably jumped to the conclusion that I am a loner with no friends. That's not true. I had good friends at school, especially amongst the acapella choir I was a member of, we were a tight bunch. But there is a funny thing about near apocalypses, you find out who your real friends are. Who would have thought at the beginning of this I didn't even know them yet. Alas, I'm jumping ahead of myself; you are not ready for that part of the story.

The idiot in my passenger seat is my younger brother Max. He is fourteen and male and therefore knows everything. He is pretty much your average teenager. He would have been the disgrace of the Anderson family had I been straight (I'm gay, by the way) but as it stands he just scrapes through for the number one spot.

So here we are, the Anderson Brothers team, driving to nowhere in particular, leaving our unconscious shell of a mother behind in our cheating bastard of a father's precious car. Maybe I had underestimated our ability to create and interesting film, I mean I've got the name.

After about a half an hour I started to think about where we were going. We needed a plan. We needed information. Maybe our mother was the only one, but I doubted it. There had to be more, Hollywood said so. As it turns out my brother was a mind reader.

'Sooo, oh brilliant leader, where are we headed?'

'First of all, fuck you.' A certain finger was directed his way, 'Second I don't know.'

'Sweet. You believe we are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and we have no plan at all. Survival seems likely.' I may not be fluent in teenage boy grunting, but sarcasm is, like, my first language and I understood the meaning perfectly. We were fucked.

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><p><em>Also, I think it is about time I got a beta. I'm getting stressed rereading my work and always finding mistakes. So if anyone is interested, send me a message. <em>


	2. Chapter 2

What do you do in the first few hours of the zombie apocalypse? My research has lead me to believe you run into a group of misfits on your way to find supplies and instantly become a kickass zombie fighting team. The problem was I wasn't one hundred percent sure this was the apocalypse. My evidence was limited. In most films I had seen there were zombies running all over the place, well, shuffling at the very least. I hadn't seen any of that. That is until I ran over one of them. I don't know what it is about the undead but they are sneaky bastards. Ninjas would be impressed with their moves.

This one came from nowhere. It was male, but that's about all I could tell you. I barely saw it before it was under my tires. I screamed like a girl and swerved as we bumped in our seats. It was just like running over a speed bump, maybe a little softer. And when I looked in my rearview mirror it moved. Yep, it was still alive. If you can call them that.

It was at this point I realized I was driving on the wrong side of the road, while looking behind me, not paying any attention to what was happening on the road in front of me. Thankful for quite suburban streets, something I had never thought before, I adjusted my steering wheel and continued on our way.

'So,' Max barely glanced up from where he was fiddling with his phone. 'I think our friend there just confirmed your zombie theory. He probably could have given us more information if you hadn't mown him down, but there is no use lamenting in the past. Phone service is down, which seems pretty stereotypical in these situations. You've seen all the movies, what next?'

I shot him daggers before opening my mouth, 'Well, if the phone lines are down that means the radio will be too.'

To confirm my suspicions he scanned the car radio, coming up with nothing but static.

'Correctamundo, big bro.' I really hated him sometimes.

'Okay, then. Looks like we are on our own. I'm going to stray from the script a little and go with real life logic. This thing, whatever it is that is making people turn into zombies or whatever, it's got to have symptoms. I mean I doubt you are completely normal one second and a zombie the next.'

Max nodded in agreement, still playing with his phone. Probably Plants Vs Zombies.

'So when people get sick they go to the hospital.'

'Blaine, your skills of deduction amaze me.'

'Shut up. One day, very soon, I am going to save your life and you will be so thankful to have me as your brother. Just you wait.'

'Doubt it.' He snorted.

'Anyway, people must be congregating in hospitals. This thing has probably spread pretty fast, so a lot of people have got to be sick. Maybe we can get some information there.'

I was pretty proud of this plan, and clearly Max was too because he was pointing forward and shouting, 'Onwards!' as though this were a fantasy adventure quest rather than the zombie apocalypse.

As we headed into the more densely populated areas of our little nowhere suburb there was more movement in the world. We passed a few cars, no one seemed too panicked, but it was barely eight in the morning, maybe they didn't know yet. The thing that concerned me was the movement in my peripheral vision. Bodies walking through parks, hired extras to give the scene more balance. The makeup team had done an impeccable job.

What sent shivers down my spine was the way they all seemed to be facing us, moving towards us. It was as though they knew we weren't infected. We were the fresh meat they craved.

We reached the end of the street where the hospital resided. Unfortunately two police cars parked nose to nose barricaded it. Two officers stood guard. The one with his thumbs tucked into his belt approached my window. I wanted to punch him in the face and tell him he was not one of New York's finest, he was a cop in southern Sydney and as such he can drop the saunter and the attitude.

'Good morning, sir.' Was this guy for real? I almost expected an accent.

'What's going on?' I asked with a smile, 'Officer,' I threw in for good measure. If we were doing American I may as well join in.

'Well it would appear quite a few people have been turning up to the hospital with a nasty infection of some sort. The whole area has been quarantined. Unless you or your friend there are ill I suggest you just head on home.' Max gave the man a look that clearly said he was not my friend.

'Thank you, sir.' I smiled and spun the car around, heading away from the hospital.

'Hey, look at that bro, you were right. Not exactly a detailed report but we got something. An infection. Its always an infection.' He shook his head, dramatized sadness in his voice.

I gave Max an incredulous look. Maybe I was starting to regret bringing him with me.

'Yes Max, that visit was brilliant. We found out jack shit.' I was stressed; when I get stressed I lashed out. What was I supposed to do? I am nineteen and on my own, except for my idiot brother, during the middle, or beginning at least, of a zombie riot. Stressed was an understatement.

'Next step in the movies are weapons. We are supposed to break into a gun store and take everything they've got. When was the last time you saw a gun store?' I could feel my voice becoming tighter with panic as every word left my mouth.  
>Max looked like he was trying, and failing to come up with a witty response. I was cursing the fact that my parents ancestors had chose Australia. If we lived in America we would have passed five gun stores my now. I'm sure of it.<p>

'What about the sports store?' Max looked hopeful. 'The cricket bat seemed to work pretty well on mum,'

'The problem with sport equipment is you have to be close to your target for it to be effective. I do not plan on letting any of those things within cricket bat range of me.' This was a tip I'm sure Hollywood was correct on; never let one of those things within your personal space. Especially if there are more than one of them because they will quickly over power you. From all my experience I found this to be true, so remember if you can reach out and touch one of them, they can bite you.

'No. We need guns.' Of this I was sure.

'Okay then, Blaine. Where do you suggest we get guns from?' It was pretty clear he didn't have much faith in me. If I'm being honest here, neither did I. I needed somewhere that would actually contain firearms. Here in Australia they are not something that is found in every household. Not even every second household. They are pretty limited to only professionals.

'Cops. The police have guns.' This was the only source I could come up with.

'You know when you think your eyes go really wide.' Helpful as always, Max. 'Also you come up with ridiculous ideas. The police? Seriously? Are you actually suggesting we steal guns off the police?'

'If you are going to knock every idea I come up with and contribute nothing of your own you can get the fuck out of this car right now. See how long you survive out there on your own. Go on.'

He looked at me with a stunned silence. Clearly he wasn't expecting me to suggest he leave. There was no way I would ever go through with it, but it was still a scary thought. Now was not the time to be splitting up. We had to get our shit together and make this work, or we were both screwed.

I pressed on 'Most of the police have got to be out dealing with this epidemic, or whatever, right? So I bet there is like, no one at the station. If there is they've got to be on their own. I mean they'd have to have as many people working on this as possible. They'd probably leave behind the new kid, the weak one. I think that's our chance. I reckon we get there and scope the place out. It may be impossible, but we've got to try.'

Max nodded his agreement. We had been on the run for about an hour now and I was turning us into a life of crime. Not the petty stuff either. "Scoping the place out"? Where did that come from? I truly had seen too many movies. I could only hope that would be an advantage. I knew the nearest police station was about fifteen minutes south of our current position. I knew this because the beach was to the east and I always knew where the beach was. I hung a left and sped off in the right direction, hoping to whatever was above that this plan wasn't about to get us killed.

I slowed the car down as we approach, stopping on the opposite side of the road. There wasn't a single car in the small car park outside the station. I figured they were all out hunting zombies or something. That didn't mean there wasn't anyone inside.

As it turned out Max was coming into his element. While I was the authority on zombies Max knew crime. I'm hoping his knowledge, like mine, stemmed from the silver screen and not more practical experiences.

'Keep going,' He hissed, 'If they have cameras or try to chase us or something you don't want them to connect us to this car.'

I nodded and parked in a side street. We checked our surroundings, not a soul or walking undead in sight. I grabbed the cricket bat from the backseat where I had stashed it earlier.

Quietly we crept towards the front of the building. We snuck up the front steps, me in front and Max walking backwards behind me. The sudden image of him tripping over popped into my head and I had to suppress a hysterical laugh. I doubted it would help the situation much. We approached the doors and they opened automatically. I don't know why, but this little bit of technology shocked me. I guess when the world is going to shit you don't expect doors to open of their own accord. It reminded me that the world was still there, that the things us humans had created may just live beyond our reign.

Once inside we found the place relatively empty. I thought maybe I was wrong about the seniors leaving the newbie behind; maybe they needed all hands on deck. I was stretching over the counter, trying to peer further into the station, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped about a foot in the air but remained quite, who knows how when I was screaming internally. I almost punched him I the face when I turned around and realized it was Max. I was about to give him a serve when he put a finger to his lips and pointed to his ear with this other hand.

I heard it too; something moving deeper into the building than we could see. From all my experience chasing the monsters usually leads to death. I was internalizing the debate between our need for weapons and our likelihood for survival when Max pushed past me and started through the desks that made up the front part of the station.

I followed him, despite coming to the conclusion this was a bad idea. But I didn't really have much of a choice, I couldn't exactly just let him go on his own. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed him. Also I would probably be a bit upset if he died.

We followed the noise further and further away from the front door. Max stopped in front of a closed door; we both knew that whatever we were searching for was behind that door.

Max held up three fingers, counting down before he turned the knob. I will never forget that sight for the rest of my life. It is one thing to see it on TV but a zombie devouring a human being it completely different in real life. It is messy and it smells and there are these god awful, wet kind of sounds, its not a little bit scary, it is truly disgusting. Before it even got the chance to turn around I smashed it on the head with my bat, then turned around and puked in the hallway. I was still doubled over when I heard the gunshot. Here is a tip: guns are loud. Don't ever let one surprise you or you might find another surprise in your pants. I stood up to find Max with a gun in his hand and a dead zombie with a single bullet on the right side of his forehead. Don't believe the films, it is virtually impossible to hit a zombie directly in the middle of the head. Even when they are unconscious.

'Well then,' Max lifted the gun turned the safely back on before handing it to me. 'Make sure you keep the safety on,' He warned, 'It would be just like you to die of gunshot wound from your own gun in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.'

I nodded, not able to say much more, and stuck the gun in my waistband. Max leant over the body that had been zombie lunch, probably breakfast considering the time of day, and pulled a second gun from his holster. We were lucky both victims had been police officers. We searched the offices, finding plenty of extra rounds and made our way back to the car as quick as was humanly possible while watching our backs for flesh eating monsters.

When I look back on those first few hours I am astounded we survived. We did everything wrong. No weapons, no plan, just ourselves, a car and an iPod. I should have died within minutes of waking up that morning. I don't know whether it was luck or fate or something divine, but somehow we made it through the first day. Now we just had to survive the night.


	3. Chapter 3

_I am still looking for a beta, so if anyone out there is interested just drop me a message._

_I was also asked in the reviews what this is based off. The answer is nothing. It is just a result of my own imagination and a Blaine-like indulgence in Zombie movies. _

_I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think. _

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><p>We ended up sleeping in the car that night. I pulled us into the parking lot of a park. I figured it would be helpful to be in an open area, more visibility. Then again it also mean t we were more visible, but that seemed the lesser of two evils. We took shifts sleeping across the backseat while the other sat in the front on guard. Although, I'm sure Max feel asleep at his post. I had the opposite problem. I did not sleep a single wink. I kept imagining my mum's undead face, hungry for my flesh. It was exactly helpful for pleasant dreams.<p>

At first daybreak I woke Max up. I was getting itchy staying in the one place for so long. I needed to move. We needed to move.

'What the hell? It's like five o'clock. What are you doing?' Have you ever tried to wake up a teenage boy early in the morning? Nigh impossible. I put the car in first and took off quickly. Just as soon as I moved I slammed on the breaks, causing Max to roll sideways off the back seat.

'Jeez,' He climbed up off the floor of the car, 'I'm up, I'm up.'

'Good. Next time just do as I say.' I started us off at a more reasonable pace this time.

I had no idea where we were going but it felt good to be moving again. I felt less vulnerable on the road.

After about half an hour of silence, Max shifted in his seat to look at me.

'Blaine, you know I don't like to question your leadership.' I snorted.

'Two things: I haven't eating in, like, twenty-four hours now. Up until this point I have been too shit scared to notice. But, well, I'm fourteen. I'm always hungry. Secondly we need a plan. We can't just drive around in circles for the rest of our life.'

At his words I noticed the pain in my stomach. I had put it to stress, but I supposed we needed to eat eventually. No point in surviving the undead if you are going to die of starvation. The second problem was much more pressing and it sent a wave of panic through me. I had no idea what we were doing, what we were going to do.

'Okay, I see your point. The supermarket it is.' This would be our first real trip into what was once civilization. I couldn't help but wonder what we would find there. Would it be deserted? Or were we about to walk into a shit storm?

'Yes!' Max raised his fists in the air and started chanting, 'Food, food, food.'

I couldn't help but laugh. Along the way I would realize that Max's idiocy would become endearing and help my sanity. Something about his attitude made everything seem less scary. I would never tell him, but I wouldn't have been able to survive that first week without him.

Our local supermarket was part of a small complex about fifteen minutes from out house. It was a little weird that we had never left the area we grew up in, yet it felt impossible for us to return home. I supposed it was no longer home for us. Even within those first twenty-four hours home was the road, constantly moving to feel safe.

There was something eerie about the world during those first two days, or at least the small part we visited. We barely saw any other human beings. The monsters virtually left us alone, unless we got to close to one of them. They were a part of the scenery, always there but never taken too much notice of. I couldn't help but wonder what the supermarket would be like. In the movies they were always devoid of life. The zombies simply hid in sneaky places waiting to come out and kill you. Would it be like that in real life? Or would there be others there who were in similar situations to us. I was a little scared to find out.

The parking lot held a few cars, scattered in the aisles. I figured if anyone were visiting now they would park as close to the front as possible, minimizing the risk of being caught on the run from car to indoors. Not that indoors was any safer, but it felt better than being out in open air.

I parked directly in front of the doors to the small center. Technically it was a bas stop but I doubted the buses were running. Who knew what sort of passengers you could pick up in the current climate?

It was hot outside, the first signs of summer making themselves known. I had always loved summer. I think it's an Aussie thing: the sun, the beach, a cold beer at the end of the day. It feels nostalgic, a dream of better days. Now the heat of summer holds other meanings for me, one being safety.

I pulled the handbrake on and turned to Max. He was looking past me, out the window, trying to see if anything was inside the complex.

'Okay, so here is the plan: I take the front and you cover me. When we get into the shop we split up. Go for the non-perishables, I don't want to make too many trips like this. Grab a basket and fill it. Got it?'

He nodded with a determined look in his eye. When food was involved, you could count on Max.

'And don't forget if you see one of those things, headshot. It's the only thing that will stop them. Okay, lets go.'

We jumped out of the car and headed towards the doors, switching our standard police issue Glocks off safety. These ones didn't open automatically like the ones at the police station had. The power must have shut off, not all together surprising. I pulled them open with my fingers as Max covered my back.

It was darkish inside, none of the fluorescent lights glowing. Further conformation the power was out. It was cooler than outside but not by much. We made our way through the center as quietly as possible, heading to the back corner where the supermarket laid waiting. Halfway there I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. One of the creatures was getting in a little retail therapy. I raised my gun and shot it in the back of the head, slightly to the right amoung matted blonde hair. I jolted a little from the recoil. There was another shot behind me and I turned around to see another creature, what was once an elderly man fall to the ground about ten meters in front of Max.

We made eye contact, sharing a look that each confirmed we were okay, and pressed on. The supermarket was darker than the rest of the complex, further away from any light source I suppose. I could see a faint orange glow of the safety light coming from the back of the store. They must have been running on some sort of back up generator.

There was another creature waiting for us at the entrance to the supermarket. This one was female and missing an arm. It had a huge gaping wound at the shoulder, muscle and bone visible but it didn't seem bothered by it. It rushed towards us, lifeless eyes hungry. Max pushed my shoulder a little and shot it in the nose, forcing its head backwards and its body to the ground. We stepped over it and picked up a plastic basket each.

'Remember non-perishables, things in cans. I want this trip to last. Keep an eye out, don't do anything stupid. Meet here in, say, fifteen minutes, okay?'

Max rolled his eyes, 'Yes, mum.'

I punched him in the shoulder, and not a friendly tap either, 'Just shut up and listen to me.'

We split up then. He went straight ahead, deeper into the store, and I went left. There was a faint smell that filled the store. I had hoped it was rotting meat, but the glow of the safety light reminded me of the back up generator. The only other conclusion was another type of rotting meat, the human kind. I pushed the thought out of my head and continued on my hunt. I reached the aisle with the chips and dip. I knew they wouldn't last long, and weren't exactly the most nutritious snacks but they would do us for a few days and I figured we deserved something a little bit unhealthy, you know, for surviving. I grabbed three large packs and shoved them into my basket.

Further up the aisle was the dried fruit. This would last us longer and was quite a bit healthier. I grabbed about ten different packs. I reached the end of the aisle and was about to turn the corner when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. It seemed too quick to be one of the creatures, yet I could never be too careful. I slung my basket in the crook of my elbow and put two hands on my gun. Slowly I followed the movement. In movies it is always a bad idea to follow danger, but my reasoning in this case was I did not want a loose zombie hanging round. If I took care of it I would know for sure what happened to it instead of it sneaking up on my back.

I stepped carefully, not wanting to alert it to my presence, or spook it and have it attack. When I finally rounded the corner I was faced with the barrel of a gun. I gasped but managed to swallow my scream. I didn't drop my gun either, and I was pretty proud of that. I noticed this gun was taller than mine. Where as it was pointing at my head, I was aiming more towards the chest. This was my first inclination that my opponent was male. The tight grey t-shirt revealed a lithe, flat chest. The other clue was the strong hands gripping the gun. I could be sure this was not a zombie because I do not believe they have the intelligence to use a gun, let alone point it in somebody's face.

We stood there for some time, neither sure what should happen next. My arms were starting to ache, so I figured I had best speak up.

'Uh, hi?' Wow, Blaine, hi? Is that really the best you can do?

'Hi yourself,' the voice was high and clear, but unmistakably male. By now I was one hundred percent sure I was facing a human. My experiences of both real life and film told me zombies didn't talk.

'So can we lower the guns?' I didn't know why we still had them up. Neither of us had attacked the other; we weren't enemies, at least not for any reason I could see.

'Sure,'

Slowly we lowered our weapons. Finally I could see his face. The first thing I noticed where his eyes. They were a shocking shade of blue, except for strange grey flecks and the slightest hint of green. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent trying to name the color of his eyes. The colour blue was a much too simple description. I have merely come to terms with the fact they cannot be named.

The rest of his face wasn't too bad either, and when I say that I mean he was absolutely beautiful. His nose turned up slightly at the end, full, pink lips, and eyebrow's shaped perfectly. His hair was a chestnut brown, styled perfectly as though he had just stepped out of the salon rather than the zombie apocalypse. He was quite stunning, in a real life kind of way. He was the hero of this movie, something in his stance told me so.

I realized we were still standing watching each either. He was sizing me up, just as I had been doing to him. I wanted to hide, I was too short and my hair was unruly as I hadn't been able to gel my curls down that morning, I looked like I could be killed by flesh eating monsters at any minute. In order to distract him I stuck out my gun-free hand.

'Hi,' I tried to smile but it may have been more of a grimace, 'I'm Blaine.'

He grabbed my hand in a firm shake, his hands unbelievably smooth, managing a perfect smile, 'Kurt.'

'So what brings you shopping on this fine day, Kurt?' What was I saying? I blushed instantly at my stupid words.

He just gave a small chuckled and smiled, 'Well I never miss an opportunity to go shopping, especially with prices like these.'

I giggled. Fuck, what was this? Were we flirting? I was standing in the middle of a zombie-infested supermarket flirting with a boy I just met. I wasn't even sure if he was gay. What had my life become?

It was at this moment that a shot rang out through the shops. Kurt's head whipped round and he lifted his gun, pointing it in the direction of the noise. I looked that way too.

'Max,' I gasped.

The boy, well he was more of a man, looked over his shoulder at me. 'Did you bring a friend?'

I swallowed and nodded, 'My brother.'

Reality had come crashing around me. I hated the thought of him being alone, having to defend himself against the cannibalistic creatures.

I looked down at Kurt's shopping basket, my own still hooked on my elbow. 'Look, I'm supposed to meet my brother in, like, five minutes. Wanna help me finish getting some food? We'll do it twice as fast together.'

A strange look crossed my new friend's face, somewhere between hope and excitement. I was unsure what to make of it. 'Sure,' he said, flashing me a grin that almost had be swooning. Let me tell you, a zombie apocalypse is not the best place to swoon. Luckily he didn't seem to notice and started off down the aisle towards the bottles of water. Judging by the holes in the arrangement I'd say someone had been here before, but they were long gone.

He reached down and picked up two two-litre bottles. He turned around and placed them in my basket, then placed one bottle in his own. We continued like that for another five minutes. He trolled the aisles, picking things up and placing them in both of our baskets. I couldn't help but noticed the dynamic we had fallen into. I was following him around like a lost puppy as he expertly navigated the store. I should have been embarrassed but his gorgeous smile and the threat of death put a stop to that.

When he seemed satisfied with our haul he lead us towards the front of the store. Max stood, arms crossed, foot tapping. 'What took you so long?' His eyes fell on Kurt and a sly smirk crossed his face. 'Ah, I see, decided to have a quick fuck while shopping.'

I gaped at him, 'What the fuck is your problem?' My face was bright red, I could feel the heat radiating off my cheeks, 'I- I just met him.'

Max winked, 'Oh okay. Sure thing big bro.'

Poor Kurt was standing there with his mouth open looking very unsure as to what was happening, the blush creeping up his cheeks a reflection of my own.

'Uh, Kurt this is Max, my brother. He is a complete and utter tool so please ignore anything he says. Max this is Kurt and I met him about five minutes ago when we each pointed a gun in the others face. Definitely no fucking.'

Kurt extended a hand, which Max accepted. I could tell from the looks on their faces and the colour of their fingertips they were trying to crush each other's hands.

I sighed, not in the mood for a battle of the male bravado despite the fact that Kurt had at least four years, and inches, on Max and was clearly winning. 'Max, did you get some food?' I looked down at his shopping basket, it seemed full but I wouldn't exactly say I trusted Max to make the right choices when it came to food.

'I sure did. I even got a little something extra,' He bent down and rummaged through his haul, pulling out a small, white first aid box. I have to say I was impressed. I didn't expect my idiot brother to be so rational. 'It won't help if you get infected or anything. But it will help with your inevitable gun shot wound.'

Only Max could make me go from impressed and grateful to seething with anger in 0.25 seconds.

'Okay, lets move. We can discuss this somewhere else, standing here is making me antsy.' I hated open spaces; I missed the protection of the car. I headed off towards the door, gun raised. I got about ten steps when I realized Kurt wasn't following us. I didn't expect him to until I realized he wasn't. He stood there awkwardly watching us leave him behind.

I turned to face him. 'You have a car?'

He just shrugged.

'Come on then. The more the merrier.' I wasn't sure this was true. Another body was surely more bait for the predators. But as much as I hate to deny it I was developing a slight crush on him, I certainly didn't want to see him die. He was gorgeous after all.

The three of us made it out of the complex with only one encounter with the undead. Kurt took care of it as it sprung up to my left. It was the closest I had seen any of us get to a bulls eye. I unlocked the car and we all piled in. I started the ignition, put it into first and pulled away from the curb. Once we were moving I breathed a sigh of relief I hadn't even realized I had been holding.

'So Kurt do you have a story,' Max turned around and placed a closed fist under his chin, too interested to be sincere. I looked in the rearview at Kurt's expression, he clearly didn't know if he should answer or not. I was curious to find out what he had done since the world ended, so when he caught my eye in the mirror I gave an encouraging nod.

'Well I first figured out something was wrong when my step-brother tried to eat me.' That situation was all too familiar. 'I decided that I should probably avoid people for a little while, so I headed bush. My dad was really into out-doorsy things. If I had realized how helpful it would be I probably wouldn't have complained as much when I was younger. I'd been wandering the Valley for the past day or so when I realized I hadn't any food. So I made my way here. I found the gun in the hands of a body in the car park. Clearly the guy didn't know how to use it or he would still be alive.'

The Valley he was referring to was a large divot in the land that separated my suburb and another one. It was too steep to build on, so it was virtually untouched by humans besides a few walking tracks. I had spent a lot of time there as a kid, but as I hit my teenage years and walking had become uncool, unless it was on a treadmill at the gym, I had stopped going. It was actually a pretty good idea to hang out there. Human contact was very rare any day of the week, so it would be perfect for avoiding the infected.

'That's a great idea.' I said, smiling to my mirror.

'Yeah,' there was a strange tone to his voice; there was almost a sadness to it. I wasn't sure what to do, so I avoided the subject.

'We have just been driving in circles. We really need a plan, somewhere to head to. Any ideas?'

'Well during the many hours I spent wonder the bush I had some time to think. Are either of you guys interested in Zombie movies?' My eyes snapped up to the rearview mirror again. Was this guy serious?

Next to me Max whipped his head between us almost as fast as I had moved my eyes. 'Are you guys soul mates or something?'

I glared at him, catching Kurt's confused expression. 'I'm a bit of a fan,' I clarified, trying to keep a casual air because Max just may be right, this guy could be my soul mate.

'Well in all those films the heroes head north. Now, I know these movies are set in America, so we have to adjust ourselves a bit, but I think we should head north, too.' It was an interesting thought process, I was curious to find out where he was going with the plan.

'Interesting, why north?' I questioned.

'Well, in the films they are always heading to Canada. I don't know what it is about Canada but it seems to repel Zombies. I think they always choose Canada because of the open spaces, lots of room to resettle. Now, here, that's got to be the outback. Another thing I have noticed about the zombies is they do not like the heat. I haven't had that much time to observe but there are fewer of them around in the middle of the day. And they seem to prefer the indoors. So if we head north, its going to be hotter, and therefore less zombies.' He flashed one of those winning smiles towards my mirror.

I almost passed out there and then. Not only was my new passenger totally exquisite but he was a genius too. I wasn't going to let on that I thought this though. 'And do you know how to get to the outback?'

'Uh, well, not exactly. I just figure we head north, get to Queensland and head west from there. See if we can pick up any information along the way.'

Damn, he was good.

'Okay, then. He is much better at this than you are Blaine.' Max grinned at me, but his smile was not so winning. He was a lot closer to loosing.

Kurt, still unused to our sibling rivalry glanced nervously between us.

'Okay, north it is.' Then I had a thought, 'Which way is north?'

Kurt let out an adorable little chuckle and pointed ahead of me but slightly to my right, 'That way.'

'Okay, lets get this show on the road!'


	4. Chapter 4

It turns out north is a long way away. We drove for about six hours that first day and it felt like we got nowhere. Endless highways that all looked the same. There were barely any other cars on the road. I think we saw two that were actually moving, both going in the opposite direction. That made me feel uneasy about our decision, but we pressed on regardless.

There were quite a few cars abandoned by the side of the road. Even a couple in the middle of the road. I wondered what had happened to the people inside them. What had made them decide to abandon their cars and risk the outside world? Or maybe they hadn't decided at all.

After about three hours of me driving Kurt insisted he take over. Max agreed with him, 'Yeah, Blaine. Don't want you falling into one of those micro sleeps and killing us all.'

I made Max get in the back, while I took the passenger seat. Max decided since he was in the back he would ignore us and listen to his iPod. I had no objections to this. I passed the time by questioning Kurt about his life. I had the irritable urge to know everything about him.

'So you said you had a step-brother?' I asked, carefully. I wanted to leave him the option to not answer, a zombified brother may not be the most pleasant topic of conversation.

'Uh, yeah. Our parents got married about a year ago. Carole was so good for my dad. It was nice to seem him so happy again. Max reminds me of him, actually.'

'Then how come you keep looking shocked every time we fight.'

'Because we never fought. We got on really well actually. Its a little strange to see you guys be like that toward each other, its the exact opposite to Finn and me, you know, once we got our shit together.'

'Oh,' I wasn't exactly sure how to respond. I had always assumed Max's and my relationship was relatively normal. We may fight, but it is generally in good nature. We actually got on pretty well when it came down to it.

'So what about your mum?'

He grimaced, staring at the road ahead. 'She died when I was eight. It was a long time ago, but I still miss her everyday.' I could tell by the expression on his face that this was not a line of conversation I should pursue, so I let the topic drop. I felt stupid for asking in the first place. I had always been kind of oblivious like that.

'So have you always lived in this dingy little suburb?' A quick change of subject.

'Yes, I have always dreamed of leaving, too. I was going to move to New York. I was going to be on broadway.' I could see a spark in his eye when he spoke, as though he was imagining himself on the stage. As soon as it appeared it was gone and I could tell he had just been hit with the reality stick. Right now we had to focus on surviving, there wasn't room for dreams of performing.

'Wow. I hope you get there.'

I hated my path, my future, I won't lie to you I was jealous of Kurt. He had dreams, I just did whatever would please my parents the most. I wished I was as brave and confident as him. It was a stupid thing to think, given the world was ending around us, but humans are shallow beings and I was, am, only human. And at that moment very glad for it.

'Okay, Mr Anderson, what about yourself? You don't get to keep asking all these questions without answering a few yourself.'

I raised an eyebrow, 'Okay. Hit me.'

'Favorite musical?' This earned him another raised eyebrow.

'How do you know I'm a favorite musical type of guy?'

He smiled, once again my heart did a little flutter. This was starting to get out of hand. 'Well can't argue with that. I would have to say Wicked. Or West Side Story.'

He nodded appreciatively. 'Ah the modern classics. Interesting choices.'

This shocked me. My choices weren't exactly unheard of, but it was very rarely I discussed my musical theatre preferences with other guys. Then again he had told me his dream was to be on Broadway not ten minutes ago, 'So we know our musicals do we?'

'We do a little, more than a little actually,' He laughed, high and musical. I could have listened to that laugh for hours. And that is embarrassing considering I had only known the guy for a few hours. It scared me a little just how much we had in common. It was dangerous to become attached to anyone in the current climate. Who knows how long we could be together for before he decides to go off on his own? Or worse.

At then end of our fifth hour on the road we decided we had to find somewhere to stop for the night. While it was fine for Max and I to sleep in the car, there was no way three of us could manage it. Kurt and I decided a motel would be our best option. Kurt emphasizing his need for running water and a proper mirror to do his hair, I thought it looked perfect but I figured it would be fruitless to argue. If possible, we needed one without humans, as we were a little short on cash.

About forty-five minutes down the highway we spotted a two story building in the distance. As we approach I began to feel hopeful. The place was run down, not exactly your luxury hotel, but it was exactly what we were looking for.

The car park had three other cars and one zombie. It was nearing sunset and cooling down. This was the first one we had seen in hours, and it was moving quite quickly towards us. I rolled down my window and aimed, missing by that much. The second shot sent it to the ground.

'Close enough,' Kurt shrugged. If it had been Max he would have made a rude comment about my aim. I decided I much preferred Kurt as a travel companion.

I reached over into the backseat to poke Max awake before climbing out of the car. Kurt and I made our way towards the front office of the motel, Max bringing up the rear. Paint was peeling off the yellow walls and weeds were growing in the cracks of the pavement. It was clear this place wasn't very popular, even in the good times before the dead began walking.

The office was empty on first sight, save for a strange, very unpleasant smell. Kurt scoped the place, gun held high, as I leant over the counter, stretching on my toes to see. On the floor, next to an office chair was the body of a middle-aged man who had been dead for a few days at least. I couldn't help but think how the movies left out these kinds of details. The ones left behind, the smell left when they have been forgotten for a few days.

I grimaced and turned away from the counter. 'Come on. We don't have to worry about paying,' I grabbed Kurt's forearm and lead him from the office. This was the first physical contact we had actually had. I noticed just how defined his muscle was under my fingertips, his skin warm under the soft cotton of his t-shirt.

Max was standing by the door with another one of the creatures lying prone on the ground in front of him. I hadn't even heard the gunshot and that concerned me. It had become such a part of my life in these two short days that it had become background noise.

We tried five doors before we found one that was unlocked. The room smelled not of dead body but of dirty motel. It was empty no creatures or humans. There were two double bed pressed against the wall, covered in that universal motel patterned covers. A small table separated them with a single lamp. Opposite the beds was a small TV in a wall unit. The TV looked at least fifteen years old.

Max, being fourteen and male immediately grabbed the remote and flicked the TV on. He was greeted with nothing but snow and static on all stations. I had hoped as he flicked through every single channel at least one would be up and running, providing survivors with information. But were there enough survivors left? How many of us were still roaming around? How quickly had this thing spread? I shuddered at the thought, unwilling to know the answer.

I sat on the end of the closest bed staring off into the distance, consumed in my own thoughts. Kurt sat at the plastic table opposite me, on one of the two chairs provided.

'So, um,' He scratched the back of his neck, clearly nervous, unsure whether he should take charge, or leave me to my thoughts, 'I think, maybe, one of us should stay guard while the other two sleep. It kinda works out perfectly considering there are two beds.' He trailed off and Max grunted in agreement. I looked up at him, unsure what to do with this beautiful boy in front of me.

'Uh, yeah, sure.'

He nodded slowly. 'Okay then. Well I don't mind taking the first shift. Say we do two hour shifts? I think we should get out of here as soon as possible. Staying in one place makes me nervous.' Again I was amazed at just how similar we were.

It was my turn to nod. 'Thanks. I'm, er, just going to have a shower. Max, sleep. I don't want you falling asleep during your shift like you did last time.'

Max yawned, 'Coolio, bro. Night dude.' And with that he took off his shirt and shorts and crawled into bed, completely unbothered by the fact that he just stripped down to his underwear in front of his brother and a boy we had met mere hours before.

I had to wonder what went on in that boy's head at times. He had been so cool during the past forty-eight hours, as though this was a regular Wednesday. Maybe it was the fact he played so many video games and as such was mentally prepared for anything. So much for all that violence doing damage to the young psyche.

I shook my head as snores started coming from the lump under the mattress and picked up the sports bag said lump had packed. After I had changed out of my pajamas fifteen minutes into the first car ride I had been in the same clothes since. I couldn't help but feel a little self conscious, I'm sure I stunk.

I took the bag into the bathroom and turned on the shower. All the way out here, pretty much the only motel on the entire highway, I was sure there would back up generator. You know, that and the fact that the TV and lights had turned on. This meant hot water. Five minutes later steam began to fill the room and I undressed and stepped into the heat.

As I let the hot water fall over me I began to cry. As I said before, I'm not brave. I've been working on it, but it is nowhere near perfection. As the water from the shower mixed with my tears I cried for my mum, I cried for my old life, I cried for civilization. I cried for my brother and my future. I cried for how perfect Kurt was and how perfect we would be together if we had met on a normal week day, instead of running from the undead.

I probably spent twenty minutes in the shower, the hot water started running out as I turned it off. I felt strangely refreshed. Have you ever noticed crying does that? Sometimes it is just better to let it out. Not that I would have told anyone I had just spent twenty minutes crying in the shower. I'm almost eighteen after all; I'm too old for crying.

I put on a fresh set of clothes and inspected myself in the mirror, wishing I had remembered to bring a razor as I rubbed my hand over the dark shadow on my jaw before I made my way out into the main room, there was no way I was doing a Max and going out in my underwear. Kurt looked away from the window and gave me a nod.

'Night,' He whispered.

'Night.' I offered before crawling under the covers.

I'm surprised I actually slept. I wasn't expecting to. I suppose after nearly forty-eight hours on the run you've got to get a little tired. I must have been out for four hours, because we had agreed on two-hour shifts, but it felt like a lot longer before I was being poked in the cheek by Max.

'Come on bro, I wanna sleep. Get your ass out of bed.'

I grumbled and smacked his hand away. I sat up in bed and stretched my arms above m head. I felt surprisingly well rested. Max poked me in the cheek again.

'Geez take your time about it, I wanna sleep dammit.'

'Fuck, okay.' My legs swung over the side of the bed and I made my way to the hard plastic chair next to the window; the designated look out spot.

I watched Max climb into the bed I had just vacated. He was asleep within minutes.

My eyes slid over to the other bed. Kurt too, was asleep. His forehead was creased with worry, eyebrows knitted together. His hands were gripping the sheet tight under his chin. I wanted nothing more than to go over there and smooth my hand through his hair, kiss his forehead and tell him everything would be all right. But that would be incredibly inappropriate. I mean, I didn't even know the guy's middle name.

I turned back to the window, feeling a little bit creepy watching the two boys sleep. I could see movement out there, but nothing too close. It would seem none of them were aware of our existence otherwise I'm sure they would not be keeping their distance. I let the creatures roam in peace, no point in disturbing them as long as they left us alone in return.

As I sat by myself in the dark I couldn't help but think. It's a natural progression when one is on their own. And despite common belief, I am not quite as empty up there as Max makes out. What I really wanted to know was where this thing had come from. Was it natural? Like some kind of monkey virus. Maybe one had escaped from the zoo. Maybe it was like rabies or AIDS or something. Or was it man made, like some government experiments gone wrong, or the cure for a disease that had created another one instead? I had a feeling about my last answer. There were always news stories about medical breakthroughs here and there, surely they can't all go right? Maybe the human race had finally pushed the boundary too far. Maybe you can only fuck with nature so much. We weren't supposed to live for this long and now the world was getting its revenge.

I shivered at the thought. It sounded too much like a bible horror story to me. Like some sick kind of plague. I had never been the religious sort and I decided now was not the time to convert. Maybe the Mayans were right, just a little early. Someone forgot to carry the one. Who knew?

I continued to go around in circles in my brain, making plans, imagining horrific deaths. I needed to get it all out of my system. I searched the room with my eyes and came across a complimentary note pad and pen sitting next to the TV. I picked the two up and took them over to my post at the window. I started to make a list.

Information : Where, when, why?

Place to go- see information.

Supplies: food, water, clothes, ammo.

More information: others?

My list didn't really make sense and I was sure there were more things I was forgetting but for some reason seeing all my thoughts on paper solidified them for me. This was becoming real, things were happening, plans were being made. No, this wasn't a movie, this was real life and we had to start treating it that way.

There was a sudden movement outside the window and I froze. I could see a possum run off in the distance. I swear it was missing some of its fur and I hoped to god that this infection or whatever it was didn't spread to animals. We were having enough trouble keeping track of the human ones as it was.

I continued to pass the rest of my shift doodling and adding to my list. I could see a grey light on the horizon, quickly followed by reds and oranges. It always amazes me just how quickly the sun rises, how soon the new day appears, washing away the one before it.

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><p><em>I just want to thank you all for reading. I know this is not everyone's cup of tea (but how great is tea?), so anyone out there who is giving this a go, it means a lot. Thanks. Let me know what you think. Love.<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_This chapter is beta-ed by the wonderful CastleAddiction. __Send her some love because she is amazing. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. _

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><p>We had been on the road for four hours and I was sick of driving. I didn't ever think those words would come out of my mouth. It turns out that zombie apocalypses aren't all they are cracked up to be. Sometimes they can be dull and repetitive.<p>

Kurt and I had paired up against Max, now a united front against his constant stupidity. We were getting along well, and when I wasn't too busy staring at him, the banter was easy. I liked to believe were quickly becoming great friends, and a secret part of me hoped there was a serious possibility for something more.

We decided to let Max drive that morning. He was still learning, but we figured the normal road rules didn't apply. But after twenty minutes, both Kurt and I were far too terrified to let him continue. I hate to think what it would have been like had there been traffic on the road. Dying in a car crash would have been the worst ending to a movie.

And now I was becoming stir-crazy. I love my brother, and as much as I was harboring the world's biggest crush on Kurt (despite the fact that we had known each other for, like, a day) there is only so long you can spend in a car with the same two people hour after hour. Especially when you are driving to nowhere in the hopes it turns out to be somewhere safe.

I was just starting to question my sanity, (because really, who gets bored when there are flesh-eating monsters just outside your car window?) when Max leant his head in between the front seats.

'I am so bored right now.'

Then again, I'm not sure that sharing thoughts with Max is necessarily a good sign for my sanity either.

'Yeah, me too.' Kurt sighed. Well, shit.

'Okay. I've been thinking,' I was nervous about this plan. I wasn't sure the others would go for it… Who was I kidding? I don't care what Max thinks - I was worried Kurt wouldn't go for it. 'We should try and talk to the next humans we see. I mean, who knows what information is floating out there? Maybe someone knows of, like, a government sanctuary or something.'

I held my breath as the others took the information in. Kurt nodded his head slowly. 'Yeah… yeah. I think that's probably a good idea, actually.'

Max just shrugged.

'Cool. As long as it's a hot chick. I mean, you got this guy here. I want some action too.' If I hadn't been driving, I would have punched him in the face. It was really hard to be a dapper gentleman when your idiot**ic**kid brother says things like that. As it was, my fingers twitched on the steering wheel and I gave him my best death glare, via the rear view mirror.

For barely seeing any humans for three days, we were quite quick to find one. But that's how it works in Hollywood - everything is just a little too convenient and since the monsters hunting us were straight from a film set, why couldn't we have the perks too?

Only half an hour after our discussion, we came across a car parked to the side of the road. It was a very old LeCar obviously well-loved, according to the various colored panels… or maybe not so well-loved. The bonnet was popped and we could only see the tracksuit-clad legs of the person working on the engine. I looked to the other two for conformation before pulling the car over. They both nodded, but didn't look particularly confident with their decision.

We each grabbed our guns, checking our surroundings before hopping out of the car. It was just past twelve, the sun was right above us and at its hottest; it had to be at least thirty degrees Celsius. It would seem the creatures did not like the heat at all, considering we couldn't see one for miles, and hadn't for the last hour or so. Still, the woman with her head in her car was either very brave or very stupid. There is no way in hell I would turn my back to a world filled with possible zombies.

I didn't know how to approach the woman, who still hadn't noticed our presence (I was now leaning toward her being stupid, rather than brave.) Kurt and Max were both behind me, having clearly made the decision that I was in charge of this particular mission, and therefore would be the one to approach the woman. I could not have told you why they made this particular decision.

We walked up to her slowly and I cleared my throat.

There was a clanging from inside the hood of the car to accompany the strange insults, including the mention of trading the car for protein powder, before the woman stood up and rounded on us. She was a fair bit taller than me, and wore a callous scowl. Kurt stood eye to eye with her. Her hair was blonde and cropped short. Her eyes were hard - it felt as though she could see into your very soul, and knew exactly how to crush it. If I had met this woman on the street in my old life, I would have crossed the road. She had the air of a serial killer… Not that I had met too many serial killers.

'Well, thanks for that.' Her voice was sarcastic, as though she spent a good majority of her time talking down to people. She gave me a quick look before speaking again, 'Well, hobbit, fetch it.'

She gestured under the car and I realized she wanted me to retrieve the tool she had dropped from where it had fallen through the engine. I was hesitant at first, unsure whether I was more terrified of turning my back on zombies, or her. I seriously considered protesting, but as I opened my mouth, her eyes narrowed and I swallowed my words. Her look told me it would not end well for me if I argued. I dropped to my knees and pulled a worn spanner out from under the car. I handed her the spanner and brushed the dirt off my knees. She grinned at me. It did nothing to help my nerves.

'Well, well, what do we have here?' Her eyes took in our little party as a whole for the first time.

I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. I felt as though she was sizing us up, checking us out. It felt almost like when the creatures looked at you; hungry. It did nothing to help my serial killer theory. I was starting to hope the zombies would come out soon.

I felt a movement behind me and saw Kurt's hand stick out past my shoulder, leaning around me to better present himself to the woman.

'Hello.' he said, with a charming smile. 'My name is Kurt. This is Blaine and Max. Nice to meet you.' It was strange to see such manners, considering where we were, and whom we were talking to. This woman seemed rough, a true fighter, not the type to be concerned with being polite. She must not have been so stupid after all, I have been known to read a person wrong.

She narrowed her eyes and gripped Kurt's hand. 'Sue.' she said simply.

We all stood awkwardly for a few moments, none of us too sure how to continue.

'So,' Sue seemed keen to get back to work on her car. 'Why exactly have the three musketeers stopped right here? Need some repairs or something and figured I'd be good for it? Because that is not how I roll. I'm not a helper, people help me. So get on with it or get lost.'

She eyed my father's precious car. Of course it was serviced regularly, and in perfect working order. I planned on it lasting a lot longer yet.

I cleared my throat. 'Uh, no. We were- it's just- well- we have been travelling pretty much non-stop for three days now. We haven't seen many people. And, well, we were just wondering if you had… I mean, do you know anything? Have you heard what is going on?'

'Ah.' was the simple answer. 'Listen, why don't we have a seat? I got a bit of a tale, and I very much enjoy an audience to my rants.'

She nodded towards a fallen tree, before the cleared section next to the highway gave way to pure bush land. I walked over, the two other boys in tow, and sat down. The log was a little damp, but I wasn't going to say anything. Sue remained standing. I got the impression she liked this position of power. It reminded me of sitting in a teacher's office.

It turns out Sue did have quite the story. She lived a few towns south, on her own, just outside of the main town. She kept to herself, mostly, but all the locals knew her from when she was a champion cheerleading coach. His visits to town were irregular except for her Friday nights up at the local gym. It was almost a week ago now that one of the regulars told a story, of how her husband was ill, over the oblique machine. The other woman had taken him to the doctor. When he got there, the doc had run some tests and things the woman didn't really understand. Either that or Sue just couldn't remember them, or more likely didn't care. Apparently the doctor had instantly referred the woman's husband to a doctor in the city, someone related to the government or something. She said something about rare diseases and research. She also said something about it all keeping quiet.

According to Sue, things like that spread around town pretty quick. Everyone was a bit suspicious of the doc's actions, but let it slide. That is until a few days later, when more people were showing up with similar symptoms. Of course, after that Sue stayed out of town. Two days later she comes back to find it pretty much deserted. Those who hadn't left were either infected and just wandering around looking for a meal, or dead.

I sat with my mouth open in shock for most of the tale. From Sue's words I could only conclude that the government knew something about this virus. They knew before it spread, they knew before (more than) half the states', possibly even country's population was dead.

Before I continue, I just want to say I have never been a hater of the government. The way I talk, I sound like a big conspiracy theorist, who always believes the government is hiding something. This is far from true. I have always believed in democracy and our legal system. Sure, I might not always agree with policies and such, but on the whole I believe the government is there for the good and does a good job while they're at it. Well, I did.

Kurt was the first to recover from his shock. 'So, you are saying this doctor recognized this virus, or infection, or whatever it is?'

Sue nodded. 'Yup, seems that way, Porcelain.' Kurt raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but chose to purse his lips instead of comment.

Max was next. 'And he told this woman to go to the city? To see a government doctor? Fuck.'

'Young man, is that kind of language appropriate for someone of your age?Nevertheless you are correct. I reckon they were monitoring it or something. If only they could keep an eye on fatties, too. I suppose that doesn't matter so much now.' Her voice trailed off in thought.

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before my voice would actually work. 'So they knew about this? People out there actually knew this could happen, yet they let it go? It happened anyway.' It was so much more than I could take. I stood up and started pacing - just as I burst into tears. 'None of this shit needed to happen? People have died. So, so many people. Little kids, whole families. How did this even happen? How does someone let this happen?' I wiped the tears from my cheeks angrily. Part of me hated that this was my reaction, especially in front of Kurt. The other part lamented for my family, the mother I had left behind, my grandparents, who should be watching daytime soaps but were probably out hunting for flesh. My small cousins who had their whole life ahead of them, my friends from school, anyone I had ever come in contact with. They were all dead, or worse.

I could no longer see due to the tears in my eyes. I kept walking up and down in front of the log where the three of them were sitting, thinking. I wanted to punch something, take my anger out, like I used to at the gym. Instead I had to settle for the constant laps, up and down the side of the road, because it was either that or curled into the foetal position. And, despite my tears, I was trying to hold it together.

I don't know how long it was, with me pacing and crying and swearing. A rational part of my brain was embarrassed at the display; but the emotional, and clearly more dominant part, honestly didn't give a fuck.

Suddenly there was a warm, heavy hand on my back. I turned around and all but collapsed onto Kurt's chest. He wrapped his arms around me, and I sobbed. Oh god, how I sobbed. I held onto the front of his t-shirt and just let myself go. I could feel the cotton becoming soaked under my cheeks, but somehow I felt safe. I barely knew the guy, but there in his arms I felt safe, like it was my own personal sanctuary. He was warm and strong beneath my face and where my hands rested just above his ribs. Kurt felt solid, permanent. It both terrified and comforted me. He felt like the only thing that was real anymore, the only thing I could rely on. My brain flickered as to what it would be like if something happened to him, but quickly left that topic as it only caused me to cry harder.

I felt his chin rest on my head and his body shake a little in my grasp. I don't know why, but his tears halted my own. I pulled away from his slightly to look at him. Our eyes met, those beautiful eyes with their indescribable colour. They were glassy and tears were running down his cheeks.

I reached up and brushed a tear away with my thumb, the palm of my hand resting against his stubble. My heart was beating out of my chest. His lips parted a little and my eyes flicked down toward them, breaking eye contact for the first time. He leaned down just a fraction.

'Hey, watch it. You gotta be more careful there, Fido.'

The newly familiar voice of Sue broke through the spell that surrounded us. I dropped my hand from Kurt's cheek and he let me go. I turned around to find both Sue and Max standing by the open front of Sue's car, Max shaking his hand from where Sue had just dropped her wrench on it. They must have moved sometime between my frustrated pacing and Kurt leaning down with those beautiful, parted lips. I couldn't help but think that maybe they had turned their attention to the car in an attempt to give Kurt and I a little privacy. This seemed strangely considerate of my brother and this odd woman we had just met.

I rubbed my eyes and dropped my hands to my sides with an awkward slap. 'Um, yeah, sorry about that.' I felt awkward and embarrassed by my display.

I don't know exactly what had just happened, but I was avoiding looking at Kurt right now. Good thing he was standing behind me. 'So, um, is that it, Sue? I mean, you haven't spoken to anyone since?'

Sue shook her head. 'Nah. Haven't seen too many others, ya know? Seems like not a lotta people got away, eh. You guys must be awful lucky.'

I chewed the inside of my lip. Yeah, we were lucky; we also had Hollywood to guide us.

'So how did you survive, Sue?' Max was looking at the woman like she was his new idol.

'Well I've got a head on my shoulders. I'm used to not relying on people. I was a coach for many years, I know how to take a person down with words, guns aren't that much different.'

Sue looked between the three of us. She was thinking; you could practically see the cogs working in her brain.

'Listen, you kids got somewhere you gotta be tonight?'

Under normal circumstances, there is no way I would have accepted an invitation such as this one, from a woman such as the one standing in front of me.

'No, we don't actually.' But these where no longer normal circumstances and who knew when the next slither of human kindness would come along.

'I've got a little hut about fifteen minutes from here. I know you're probably heading somewhere, but if you need a place to stay for the night…

Max's eyes lit up. I risked a glance at Kurt, who was nodding just slightly, 'Yeah, that sounds awesome, Sue.'

And with that, Sue turned on her heel and marched straight into the bush. I can't say I was comfortable following her, but I was slowly beginning to accept that comfortable was no longer a part of my life.


	6. Chapter 6

_MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you are all having a lovely time with your family/friends/ghosts of Christmas past. Here is my Christmas present to you. I know this chapter took a little long, the next one probably will too, but it is just that time of year._

_Once again a huge thank you goes to the wonderful CastleAddition who manages to simultaneously flail, criticise me (constructively, of course) and make me love her. _

_I hope you enjoy this one. Let me know either way, yeah?_

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><p>We had basically been wandering through the bush, struggling with the under growth for ten minutes when a thought occurred to me.<p>

'Uh, Sue? Will the cars be okay? We just kind of left them.'

Sue made a non-committal noise in the back of her throat. 'As far as I know, Curly Locks, none of those things have learnt how to drive yet. And as I said before, I haven't seen any humans since the outbreak. They should be fine. If not, I'll personally hotwire you a new one.'

She turned around to wink at me, which did nothing to boost my confidence. If anything, it frightened me more.

Kurt was walking beside me, having a much better time managing the bush than I was with his long legs.

He gave me a funny look, then reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it slightly before dropping it and turning his concentration back to the bush. I had no idea what to make of the little exchange, but my stomach and heart seemed to think it was a big deal.

My brain was still working on calming my heart, when there was a rustling to my left. Through the trees, I could see one of the creatures making its way towards us. It was getting late in the afternoon and the heat of the day had begun to burn off, thus it was moving quite fast.

'Shotgun!' Max yelled before pulling out his Glock and shooting the zombie under it's right eye. The thing fell backwards, twitched once but did not get up.

Sue nodded her head in approval. 'Nice one, kid.'

Max positively beamed.

We walked in silence for another five minutes with no interruptions. I was beginning to get frustrated when we hit a small clearing. Right in the center was a hut. There are no other words to describe it. It was small, one bedroom, I doubt it even had internal walls. Made out of what appeared to be tree trunks, sticks and leaves.

'What is this place?' It was the strangest building I had ever set eyes on. I was thinking maybe we had stepped out of the Zombie genre into documentaries. This was something from another time completely. A time when they didn't have electricity, or concrete.

Sue shrugged. 'It was my sister's and mine. We used to hide out here when we were little, I used to read to her. One day she decided she wanted a house. And well, I built her one.'

I have to say I was pretty impressed. 'You built this yourself?'

'Sure did. Let me give you the grand tour.'

The grand tour consisted of us standing in the doorway while she showed us the two cots she had set up in the middle of the cramped space, the hand built stove and wood pile. There was also a small bookshelf filled with storybooks and a few trophies from what appeared to be her days of coaching cheerleading.

We spent the rest of the night around a fire Sue built in a pit in front of the cabin. She pulled out a few folding chairs from around the back of the house. While the days were hot, the nights were still cool, the full heat of summer was yet to hit us. I shivered slightly and stretched my hands towards the fire, thankful for the heat.

Around dinnertime Sue pulled out a plastic box with dried meat. She explained that is was kangaroo that she had hunted, smoked and killed herself. The woman was quite resourceful, and I was becoming glad we had run into her, as much as she totally creeped me out. The meat wasn't particularly tasty, but it filled our stomachs and would keep us going for another twelve hours at least.

As we sat, Sue told us about her past. She had moved out of town after her sister had died. After spending so many years caring for her it was hard to be around constant reminders of her. She also told us of her cheerleading triumphs. I was a little worried she was about to make me start doing star jumps, but she looked so alive as she spoke I couldn't help but respect her. The more she talked, the more she became a character to me. She fit perfectly into the scene. She, like Kurt, was the hero in her story.

It must have been around eleven when I found myself yawning. Max was attempting to tell a ghost story and I really wasn't interested, particularly as we could hear a constant movement beyond the trees. It could have been animals, but I highly doubted it. We had agreed to take turns in watch and I was third in line so I decided to get to bed as early as possible before my shift. I took one of the cots. I figured I deserved it since I was the first one to turn in. I pulled one of the blankets Sue had provided over the lower half of my body and fell into a light sleep. I'm not sure how long I was out to it before I was awake again. My body was turned towards Sue, who was asleep on the other bed. Outside, I could hear Max wandering around outside, clearly the one that was meant to be watching over us. Suddenly, I realized Kurt was nowhere to be found. Rolling over, I came eye to eye with the man himself.

He was wide awake, watching me sleep. I probably should have thought it was creepy, but my heart just started to beat a little faster instead. He was lying on the dirt floor with nothing but an old picnic rug underneath him, looking up at me as I was looking down at him.

He smiled when he saw I was awake. I'm sure if it wasn't dark he would have been blushing. 'Hi,' He whispered, careful not to wake up the third member of the room.

'Hi.' I whispered back. He shifted a little, grimacing as he did so.

'That doesn't look very comfortable.'

He shrugged. 'It's not.'

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. 'You could come share with me? I mean, it's not very big, but I think there's enough room.'

I fully expected him to laugh in my face.

Instead he sat up, 'You sure?'

I nodded and scooted over in the cot so I was right on the edge. Silently he stood, lowering himself down on the cot behind me, his body instinctively curling itself against my back. It should have been weird, we had known each other three days and here we were spooning. But the weirdest part was it was not weird at all. In fact, it felt right. Just as it had when I was crying into his chest, it felt safe in his arms, like I belonged there.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I must have because I awoke to Max's face only a few inches from my own. I was grateful he didn't comment on the sleeping arrangement when he told me it was my turn to take watch. I don't think I could have dealt with that conversation that early in the morning.

Kurt came outside about an hour into my shift.

'What are you doing?' I asked him. 'You should sleep while you can.'

He just shrugged, 'I didn't feel like sleeping. I wanted to spend some time with you.'

'What is this, Kurt?' I was beginning to feel frustrated with our relationship. The glances, the spooning. It was all becoming too much for me. 'This is so strange. I have all these feelings and you keep looking at me, with those deep blue eyes and I don't know what is going on. I still feel like I don't know anything about you.'

He looked at me curiously. 'Hmm. Okay then. What do you want to know?'

'Everything.' I looked at my hands. I felt incredibly vulnerable telling him that.

He gave a small chuckle. 'That is a very vague answer.'

'Okay,' I was still a little frustrated. 'What's your shoe size?'

'Ten.'

'Most played album?' This was important.

'The original cast's recording of Wicked .' Oh, god. The man was prefect, but I kept my face cool, not willing to let my emotions show just yet.

'Oh, good one. Um. Scarves or hats?'

He barked out a laugh. 'What kind of question is that? How am I supposed to choose just one?'

I laughed at the sassy reply, 'Just answer.'

'Scarves.'

'Chickens or ducks.' I was just picking random things off the top of my head.

His answer surprised me. 'For eating, or just general life?'

'Both.'

'Ducks.'

'Which wrist do you wear your watch on?' I don't know why this was important since people usually wear their watch on their least dominant side and I knew he was right handed from the way he held his gun.

'Left.' Correct.

'Scars?'

'Yes?' He titled his head to the side as he said it. Fucking adorable.

'Why so unsure?'

'I'm not really sure what the question is.' I wasn't really either.

'Tell me about one of your scars.'

'Okay.' He shifted slightly, pulling at his collar to show me a faint white line on the side of his neck. 'I would have been about seven at the time, and I decided to cut my own hair. The barber clearly knew nothing about style and seven year old me could obviously do a much better job.' He chuckled softly at the memory. 'My dad came into the bathroom just as I had the scissors poised and ready to go. I jumped at being caught and managed to stab myself. It's any wonder I didn't kill myself.'

I nodded shocked at the violence of the image, despite the fact that I was taking shots at the undead on a regular basis. A change in subject was needed. 'Um, I'm running out of questions.'

'Okay. I'm going to ask you some then.' His grin came with extra mischief. Sadly, fries cost extra.

'That smile makes me nervous.'

'Good, you should be.' He actually rubbed his hands together.

'Not helping.'

'Okay. Here we go.' Pause for dramatic effect. 'Favorite movie.'

'Are you serious?' I couldn't believe he had gotten me all worked up for that. 'That is a stupid question, everyone asks that. Besides I can't pick one.'

'Okay then. Favorite movie that makes you sound really arrogant when you talk about it, you know because of the "themes" or "the cinematic framing"' He could recover fast.

'That's better. Um, okay, Bladerunner.'

'Oh god, I hate that movie. You are such a nerd.'

'Stop being mean, just ask questions.' This was starting to reach the point of flirting.

'Fine, fine.' He raised his hands. He was about to ask another when Sue came out of the small hut.

'What is going on with you two?' She waggled a finger between us. 'You together or something?' God, the woman was blunt.

I shifted awkwardly in my chair, bringing my knees to my chest. Kurt coughed once.

'Uh, no.' I looked between Sue and Kurt before settling my gaze on the top of my knees. 'I mean, we just met so…'

'Um, yeah,' I heard Kurt answer. I still couldn't look at him. 'We're friends, you know.'

'Uh-huh.' Sue nodded. She had an expression on her face like she knew something we didn't. 'Look, I dunno where you kids are heading but you said something about going north, right?'

We both nodded.

'Yeah, well I reckon I'm going stay here. Not that I don't like you or nothing, I just prefer to be on my own. And the smell of teenage awkwardness is making me sick to my stomach.'

It made sense, except for the smell part, and I didn't really expect her to join us anyway.

'But I reckon you kids had better get going soon. You know, if you want to make any progress today.'

She was right, judging by the light I would say it was just after seven. If we were going to get anywhere we had to move soon. I pushed myself up off the chair and headed towards the door of the small building.

'I'll just get Max. Could you show us back to the cars, Sue?'

'Of course.' She was picking at her nails. If I didn't know any better I would say she was a little upset to see us go.

It took an excessive amount of poking and death threats, but I managed to get Max awake. We packed up our things. We didn't have much, mostly guns, so it didn't take very long. Sue pressed a small plastic bag full of dried meat into my hand with a wink. It was strange to think we would be leaving her here on her own. It had only been a day, one night, but she felt part of our little group. Sure a strange, middle aged, hermit-like part that often made snarky remarks, but a part all the same.

Sue led us back through the bush. We ran into no more than three zombies and I only tripped twice, Kurt catching me both times. I swear after the second time I believed the blush would never leave my cheeks.

When we finally made it out of the tree line, I sighed at the sight of our car. I hated to admit it, but I had missed it.

'Well, kids, I hope you get where you are going.' Sue leant forward and shook each of our hands. I was almost tempted to rush forward and hug her, but something told me she might not take well to that.

'Thank you. Thank you for everything.'

'It's been my pleasure.'

I started up the car with a sense of melancholy, knowing we would almost certainly never see Sue again. As we pulled back onto the highway I looked into my rearview mirror to see her raise a hand in farewell. I will for the rest of my life wonder what happened to that woman.


	7. Chapter 7

_This took too long, but life got it the way as it always does. I hope it's worth the wait. As always many thanks to the dearest CastleAddicition. Enjoy._

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><p>For the next few days. we continued our way north, not really following any particular direction other than our instincts. It is safe to assume that said instincts weren't particularly sharp, as after a full day's driving we ended up face-to-face with the ocean, which was unquestionably located east, not north. It was no wonder we were getting nowhere fast.<p>

The further up the coast line we got, the hotter it became, more humid too. Unfortunately we didn't find any more abandoned motels, but we figured out that if one was willing to sleep on hard plastic, covered by a very thin carpet, they could curl up in the boot of the car. Luckily we weren't driving a sedan, instead of the open plan SUV, or whoever had the privilege of the trunk would have run out of air sometime during the night. Being the smallest, it was most often me, the other two alternated between the backseat.

Kurt and I alternated between flirting and being awkward. Max didn't help the situation by making wildly inappropriate comments at every possible opportunity. It is difficult to be disarmingly charming when your younger brother keeps asking if he should include lube on the shopping list. I swear that boy was made to make crude comments. I suppose what with being fourteen, andwithout any parents to reprimand him, it's in his job description, right?

We were eating our way through our supplies from that first shopping trip quickly. I had them rationed tightly and it felt like we were always hungry, but they were still going fast. I knew that sometime in the near future we would have to make another stop for food.

During the next three days, I ran over no less than four zombies. Not including those I estimate we killed fifteen. I have to say I was a little disappointed. I had expected hordesof undead chasing us at every waking moment. I suppose it wasn't exactly a bad thing.

It was three days since we had left Sue and we were well into the next state, having crossed the borderat least two days ago. It was getting hotter by the hour, but I couldn't tell whether that was because we were getting closer to the equator, or the peak of summer.

It had become part of our daily routine for Max to scan the radio after we stopped for lunch. Our lunch stops always consisted of more stopping than lunch due to the diminishing pile of food, but it was a break we needed. Have you ever noticed that sitting on your ass all day is tiring?We always stopped in the middle of the day, as it was the hottest. We had long ago determined that zombies didn't like the heat so it was the safest time for us to rest. It was very rare that we would run into any trouble during this part of the day.

Whenever we decided it was time to get back on the road, which was usually no longer than half an hour after we stopped. Max would call shotgun so he could play with the radio. He had gotten it into his head that this was the way we were going to get information. I don't know why, in a world where we have the technology we do, he thought this would be the first option. I suppose it was because that was the most common thing to happen in the movies. Personally, I thought he was an idiot, but we had no phone reception and we didn't even have a computer, let alone the internet. What where the chances there would be a broadcast? Then again what are the chances there would be a zombie apocalypse?

He had been doing this for three days now. I know that doesn't seem like much, but when you are on the run and there are three of you living out of a four wheel drive, it is. It frustrated the hell out of me. There would be was constant static for at least half an hour as he tried every single possible wavelength. Whenever he did this, his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth, I dunno, to balance his concentration or something. It gave him an innocence that made it difficult to hate him, but believe me I tried.

On the fourth day, my nerves were fraying. I was about thirty seconds from telling him to shut up when the static stopped. At first I thought he had given up of his own accord, but instead of leaning back in his seat in defeat, as he usually did when he finished one of these sessions, he froze. I'm not sure why he froze, it's not like his being still was going to change anything. Then we heard it.

'_Survivors..._' We didn't actually hear the message the first time through. Kurt, Max and I were all too busy screaming at the sound of the voice on the radio. It was actually pretty stupid of us, considering there was every possibility the message may not have been repeated. Lucky for us it was.

_'Survivors. Those of you out there, who have access to transportation, should make their way north immediately. There is help. I repeat there is help. Survivors make your way north. Help is at the following coordinates: fourteen degrees, eighteen minutes south, one hundred and thirty two degrees, twenty five minutes east. Survivors…_'

The message played for another half hour, we let it run the whole time. I think I was in shock for the whole announcement. There were others out there. There was safety somewhere. Kurt had been right; we had to go north. There was help, and others, people who knew what they were doing, who would be in charge and I could just give myself over to their instructions without having to think for myself.

Somehow we managed to find an old napkin and pen and get the coordinates down. By this stage I had pulled over, I was much too worked up to be driving. Kurt had found a street directory in the back pocket of one of the car seats. Unfortunately for us, it was only a single state. As none of us knew where the coordinates lay we needed a map of the whole country.

So then, because life is never easy, particularly in a zombie apocalypse, we knew where we were going but had no idea where that was. Helpful. Super helpful.

Of course it was Max who was the one to point this out. 'So anyone know where those coordinates actually lay? I'm really hoping it's somewhere in the country. I hope it's not, like, and island or something. That would be a bitch to get to.'

Kurt and I both nodded in agreement. Yes, that _would_ be a bitch to get to. What we needed was a map of the country. Preferably a detailed one, with coordinates. I had enough confidence in my basic geography skills that I could locate the point, but without a map we had no hope.

'But where are we going to get a map, dear brother?' After all this time Max still didn't have faith in my ability to plan.

'Well, _dear brother_,' Sarcasm is fun. 'We are on a highway. Often people who use highways don't know where they are going. People on highways also need to stop for fuel. Therefore places that sell fuel also sell maps.'

'Of course, petrol stations!' Kurt exclaimed, clapping his hands together and bouncing a little on in his seat. Both Max and I turned to look at him.

'Sorry. I got excited.' he said sheepishly.

'Okay, then. Let's get back on the road. Kurt, you're driving, I'm tired.' I checked our surroundings before hopping out of the car and making my way to the passenger side. As I opened the door I heard Max's hopeful voice.

'Can I drive?'

Kurt and I answered in sync. 'Hell no.'

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><p>We just kept heading north. With no idea where the coordinates lay, we followed the simpler instruction. There was no other choice, really.<p>

We must have been heading into the tropics, because it was getting humid. We had tried to keep the air con off, as we wanted to minimize stops for fuel. But I figured if we were stopping for a map anyway, I could indulge.

Kurt and I decided to wait another day before attempting our grocery run, giving us time to plan our trip. Max wanted to dive straight in, just break into the first place we found. I think he just wanted food. Plus the further north we headed, the warmer it was, and the less zombie activity there was. I realize when I tell this story I make it seem like there was barely any of them around. This is so wrong.

The thing about zombies is they were always there. There is always that movement out of the corner of your eye. If you keep moving, they don't have enough time to realize you are fresh meat. In the car, we were basically a moving can of spam. Problem was (well, for the zombies) we moved too fast for them to realize they could eat what was inside the tin.

That's why we barely stopped. We couldn't give them the chance. It was why I hated toilet breaks. Why I couldn't sleep at night. We weren't zombie fighters. We were just a bunch of kids trying to survive.

As the sun set we pulled over into the breakdown lane, next to the highway, parking the car in the best possible position for a quick getaway. We all sat in the back of the car, legs crossed and tangled together.As the other two talked about Spartan fighting formations (something Kurt declared he had absorbed from his step-brother) I realized this was my family now. These two people, who I would, did, and had trusted my life with. I couldn't imagine life without them.

I pretended to hate Max, but really, he was my brother, no matter how deep the love was buried, it was still there.

And Kurt. What could I say? There was no more denying it, I couldn't lie to myself any longer. I loved him. This man I had known for less that a week. We basically shared a brain_**.**_ I had to wonder, if that was true, did he feel the same way? Was there any possibility that maybe I could gain some happiness from the world going to shit?

Max was drawing feverishly, muttering something about phalanx formations, on the back of the napkin with the coordinates on it. Kurt looked up, the smile sliding from his face (I say face, because that's what happened when he smiled, his lips, cheeks, eyes, eyebrows, evenhis fucking forehead all smiled) when our eyes met.

Something is my face must have told him I was thinking too much because he leaned over and whispered in my ear so Max couldn't hear. Not that he was listening anyway, he had launched into a speech on the Romans now, still doodling on his napkin.

'Are you okay?' I don't know why, but this caused my breath to hitch. How could he go from humoring Max and his fighting "techniques" once second, to having such a sincere look of concern the next.

I nodded, not trusting my voice notto break.

'Okay.' He gave me significant look, one that said _let me know if that ever changes_, and turned his attention back to Max.

After an hour of planning we had finally agreed on a course of action. I couldn't help but think maybe we had over-planned. We hadn't really left room for anything to go wrong. But the plan was fool proof. Right?

The plan went along the basic lines that one of us would fill up the car while the other two would go into the petrol station itself and find a map. Max would be the one to fill the car, as he was second best shot and could look after himself. Kurt would accompany me into the station because he was best shot. I would look for the map because I was theworst shot. That was hard for me to admit, but it had to be done for the sake of our plan. And our lives.

The strategy was to be fast. There was no reason for us to linger, and the sooner we were moving again the better. We also hoped that we would find a place as close to the middle of the day as possible. But as we had no idea exactly where we were, we couldn't exactly plan that aspect of the mission.

I was nervous, I can't deny that. All this talk of plans and zombies and moving quickly had got me all worked up. I volunteered to take the first watch shift, as there was no way in hell I was sleeping anytime soon.

Kurt gave me another one of his significant looks as I climbed into the front seat, our designated watch post. I tried my best to give a reassuring one back as I switched my gun off safety, sat back and waited.

I only had to shoot one during the watch that night. Generally, we tried to avoid it, because it doesn't exactly aid sleep to have a constant stream of gunfire right next to your temporary bed. As such, we only kill zombies out of absolute necessity during the night.

Kurt was next to watch. He gave my shoulder a squeeze as we switched positions. As I curled up in a ball on the back seat I tried to concentrate on the warmth of his hand, rather than the constant noise of movement right outside the window.

* * *

><p>I was sure I was going to drop the gun my hands were sweating so much. How embarrassing would that have been? I couldn't even imagine it without blushing. Kurt was driving because I was panicking too much to do so. He kept shooting me nervous glances, but I wasn't sure whether that was because he was nervous too, or he was worried about me. I decided now was not the time to dwell on that.<p>

He pulled into the petrol station slowly, giving us all time to brace ourselves. The moment he pulled the handbrake on we were out of the car.

Max headed straight to the pump, while Kurt and I headed to the door. There were only a couple of zombies between us and our destination. We were moving fast and they hadn't really registered out existence yet, so they were easy targets. Kurt and I took out one each. Worst shot my ass.

There was another shot from behind us, but I didn't look around, there wasn't time. I just had to assume that Max had killed another. I hoped there wasn't too many of them hanging around out here. What was more pressing, however, was how many would be inside where they could hide behind counters and magazine stands.

From outside the window, I could see at least four inside. It made sense that they would stick to indoors, it was cooler there. I didn't like the fact that we were outnumbered, but I reminded myself that we were the ones with the guns, and therefore the advantage.

Kurt entered first, kicking the door open so he could keep two hands on his gun. It was the hottest thing I had ever seen, leading my mind down a totally inappropriate avenue given the current situation.He shot the first one immediately. The problem was, we had forgotten just how fast these things were when the heat didn't affect them. By the time I was inside the door, two of them were upon us. I shot one easily and Kurt aimed at the other. He missed the first time, due to the speed of the thing. We had been in the small building five minutes and made no progress towards finding the map. It was not helping my nerves at all. We got rid of the four I could see from the outside and made our way deeper into the store. It was my job to search for the maps while Kurt covered my back.

I headed to the magazines, I don't know why, seemed reasonable at the time. Besides Victoria Beckham, no zombies. But no maps either. Another shot rang out from outside. 'Kurt?' I asked, knowing he would know what I was asking.

'He's fine.'

Next stop was the touristy stuff, you know, hats and t-shirts. Before we got there, another one of the things appeared from behind the shelf. Kurt shot it from above my head. I think that was the first time in my life I have been thankful for my height. Now that the zombie was dead, I stepped over it and half jogged to a plastic shelf that contained hundreds of leaflets and different types of maps. I grabbed as many as I could, not exactly having time to sort through them and find the best one. I stood and turned around, arms full of paper.

'Go!' I shouted at Kurt, who as it turned out, was a little slow on the uptake. I guess he didn't expect me to have so many.

I pushed past him, now useless to defend either of us with my arms full, and headed to the door.

'AHHH! Shit!'

'Come on, Kurt. Stop - oh fuck.' I turned around to find Kurt face down on the ground, ankle held by a rotting hand. He twisted in the zombie's grip, kicking hisfoot in an attempt to free himself. But it wasn't enough, the thing's grasp was too strong.

'Oh shit, fuck.' I danced on my feet looking between Kurt and the maps in my arms. It felt like I took an eternity to make that decision when in reality it can't have been more than ten seconds.

Dropping everything in my hands, trying to make a neat pile as I did so, I pulled the gun out of the waistband of my shorts. I was shaking so hard that I missed the first time. Okay, maybe I was the worst shot. But I got it on the second go, and it immediately dropped Kurt's foot. He scrambled to his feet.

'Come on, let's get out of here ASAP.'

I bent down, picked up all my flyers, and we were out the door. Max was sitting at the wheel of the car, zombie bodies scattered in the surrounding area. We had agreed to let him be the getaway driver, but only because that would be fastest as he was already waiting. At the soonest possible moment, we would swap. No use surviving a zombie attack if you are killed by your little brother's driving on the getaway.

Kurt and I came sprinting out of the shop, both still shaken from the sudden turn of events. We dived into the back seat and Max had taken off before we had even shut the door. We bunny-hoppedup the road, but it was enough to put distance between us and the small crowd of zombies that had now gathered.

'So what happened?' He met my eyes in the rearview mirror.

'One of the things got Kurt.' I said through my panting.

'Dude, it didn't bite you, did it?'

'Nah,' Kurt was breathing pretty heavily himself. 'It tried it's hardest, but I am just too fabulous to be taken down by one of those disgusting things.'

'Good, cause I wouldn't want to have to shoot you in the head or anything.' I looked at Max, horrified. Whether it was because of the brutality of the statement or the image of him shooting Kurt, I couldn't tell you.

After about half an hour we switched drivers. Kurt took over as I was still too shaky, and I wasn't even the one who had been attacked by a zombie. The joint decision had been made to keep going and get as far away from the petrol station as we could. We would look at the maps when we stopped for the night.

It turned out that our overnight stop would take place a lot earlier than usual. We were all exhausted from both the physical and mental activities of the day and had mutually decided we deserved the break from travelling. I spread out our swag across the boot of the car. We had one full map of the country, and many that showed parts in detail.

I climbed over into the front seat to find the napkin with the coordinates on it. It took the three of us a good fifteen minutes to find the spot on the map.

'There.' I pointed to the place, feeling quite smug that I was the one that had found it.

Kurt looked confused, 'The Kimberly? Why would they make us go there?' The Kimberly is a national park, north west of our current location. It mostly consists of low mountain ranges and heavy bush land. There are also dry grasslands and our coordinates pointed us to the spot where they meet the mountains.

Max shrugged. 'There is not much out there, you know, human-wise. I suppose you could build something and keep it quiet. They probably had this thing ready to go.'

Max's words made me uncomfortable. Mostly because it was very possible. Going by the evidence we had gathered, and what Sue had said, this wasn't a surprise to the government. It made sense that they had some shelter or something set up. It made me wonder why they hadn't warned anyone.

'How are we ever going to find this?' I decided to focus my concern elsewhere.

'Well,' Kurt tilted his head so he could look at the map the right way. 'I suppose we get as close as we can, via the highways. From there, we wing it. If there are others heading in this direction it can't be too hard to find. I mean, they are telling people to go there, so maybe they have a lookout or something?'

I climbed into the backseat while they continued discussing the plans. Max was trying to convince Kurt to let him drive more. Thankfully, Kurt was flat out refusing.

It wasn't long before their conversation died out and Max fished his iPod out of his pocket. Sometimes I forgot he was simply a teenage boy, younger than Kurt or I, and that his favorite way to drown out the world was really loud, obnoxious music. Kurt climbed in to sit next to me. I looked at him and suddenly felt overwhelmed, the events from the day rushing back to me. I could feel tears pricking at my eyes, and he must have been able to see them too.

'Whoa, hey now. What's up?'

'Nothing,' I stuttered, quickly reaching up to brush at the tears.

He grabbed my hand and swiped his thumb along my cheek. My breath hitched at the intimacy of the act.

'What's up?' He looked at me frankly, like he really wanted to know.

'Oh god, I am so stupid.' I was so frustrated with myself for feeling all these things.

'Yeah, but that's beside the point.' He said in a joking tone. How can someone be loving, earnest and funny all within the space of five minutes?

'I- just- I was thinking about how I nearly lost you today and kinda started freaking out.' The words fell from my mouth so quickly they started to jumble into one.

Kurt let out a musical laugh, 'You can't get rid of me that easily.' I don't know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't for him to lean in and brush his lips against mine.

I closed my eyes out of instinct, feeling his warm breath mingle with my own. When I had recovered somewhat I began to move my lips with his. My tongue reached out to lick at his lips before he parted them and our tongues met. God, he tasted good; a little bit of mint, but mostly just boy, him.

It was then that I realized exactly what was happening and pulled back.

'Um, sorry.' He blushed and moved away from me. My fingers came up to touch my lips. Yep, they were still there.

'No,' My eyes flickered up to meet his, 'No, it's okay. I just- well- I guess that wasn't exactly the reaction I was expecting.'

We were both silent for a few moments letting the awkwardness wash over us. The tension was almost tangible. Then I laughed. And so did he. We lost ourselves in the laughter, forgetting where we were and what had just happened. When our laughter finally died down the embarrassment quickly rushed back to replace it.

'So…' I let the end of the sentence trail away. I didn't really know where I was going with it but I felt the need to fill the sudden silence. Kurt put his hand over mine where it was resting on my knee.

'So indeed.' He seemed a lot less uncomfortable than me. I suppose he was the one that had kissed me. 'Blaine. I- I really like you.'

I felt like there was a "but" coming.

'I don't know if we can make anything work considering the situation.' Close enough.

'But I'd like to try.' Well. There was it was, but it wasn't exactly the one I was expecting.

I didn't even think about the words. 'Me too.'

Then he swooped down and kissed me again, this time with the passion of someone who had just been given really, really good news.

* * *

><p><em>The best bit of the story is always when Klaine get together.<em>


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